A large number of surface geometries have been developed for use in the manufacture of MOS-gated devices. These surface geometries or “layouts” include interdigitated structures as well as repeating or “cellular” structures, including the well-known hexagonal geometry exemplified by HEXFET® power MOSFETs. These various surface geometries have been developed to optimize device characteristics such as on-resistance and ruggedness. For a given geometry and voltage, the on-resistance of the device is inversely proportional to the active device area. To design a new device with a desired on-resistance using an existing surface geometry, only the product of the on-resistance of an existing device multiplied by its active area needs to be calculated. Based on this information, the active area of the new device is determined, the overhead for pads and termination is added, and the device with the desired on-resistance can be manufactured.
However, the conventional approach of producing a new set of masks for each different on-resistance value or each different size of the MOS-gated device is undesirable in that it can result in the generation of a large number of mask sets for devices that differ primarily in their on-resistance and in the size of their active areas. Moreover, each of these devices must be separately qualified before being shipped to customers. Conventional devices also do not provide an easy means by which gate and source pads can be moved to accommodate a particular end-use.
There is thus a need in the art for a method for producing MOS-gated devices that requires only a single set of masks to be produced, and that can use the same set of masks to make MOS-gated devices of varying sizes and having different on-resistances. There is also a need in the art for a method for making MOS-gated devices such that a family of such devices can be qualified, without having to qualify each particular device within the family. Finally, there is a need in the art for a surface design for MOS-gated devices that allows gate and source pads to be easily moved around within the device so as to accommodate particular end-uses, without requiring substantial re-engineering efforts. These and other needs are met by the methods and devices disclosed herein.